Why do vegans try to imitate animal products if they’re so against eating meat? If vegans were really vegans, why don’t they just eat vegetables?
This blog post is going to answer the common question of why vegans choose to eat meat-like foods, despite the fact that a vegan diet exclusively excludes meat, dairy and animal products. Let’s get into it.
Why do vegans try to imitate meat?
Vegans enjoy eating food that tastes like meat because we love conveniently shaped foods that taste great. These foods are typically savoury and satisfy the “grease-tooth” that we get from time to time. Vegan love eating burgers, hot dogs and nuggets just like any other normal person.
Meat in this case, could be anything from chicken nuggets to sausages, steaks and burgers.
Try out this southern-style potato salad, pairs well with vegan burgers.
To answer this question properly, Let’s cover a good few reasons why vegans enjoy eating meat-like products.
We’ve been eating meat all our life
I don’t know about you, but I only started to eat vegan in my early twenties. Living your entire adolescent life and childhood eating meat, there’s going to be some habits that die hard.
A big reason why vegans eat meat-like products is because they’re simply used to eating meat. So if we can enjoy a product that doesn’t actually contain it, we can satisfy that meat craving.
Mock-meats make it easier to transition
I don’t know about you, but for me it became real easy to transition to a vegan diet when I realised I can still occasionally have bangers and mash.
Vegan sausage was the first mock meat that made me realise that we can still eat the same old stuff. Over the years the amount of vegan options are getting better and better. So much so that even meat-eaters are finding it hard to tell the difference between the real and the faux options.
Now we’ve got vegan mince, chicken chunks, sausages and nuggets that can make meat-free Monday an easy reality.
Check out this vegan spaghetti meatballs recipe
Modern mock-meat tastes good
Let’s be real, if you like spaghetti and meatballs, you’re also going to enjoy it if the meatballs was made form Beyond meat. Because the flavour’s in the texture and seasonings, not in the meat itself.
One main reason why vegans love mock meats is simply because they taste banging.
Options without the guilt
It’s strange how commonly we’re asked why we eat mock meats, when the whole premise of a vegan lifestyle is to reduce harm to animals overall.
The reason there’s junk food vegans, why we can enjoy a vegan cheeseburger, why we always have new bae-con brands, is because there’s no harm in it.
We eat food that tastes like meat because it gives us more options, without the guilt of harming animals for our palette.
Is vegan meat healthy?
To answer this question accurately, it really depends on the type of vegan meat you’re eating.
One could argue that vegan meat is healthier than “real” meat due to the significantly lower levels of saturated fat.
On the other hand vegan meats (being mainly soy, pea or wheat-based) can be highly processed and considered unhealthy in that sense.
The key is to eat these things in moderation, like any healthy diet would recommend. Personally I’d say a ratio of 6:1 Whole food to Processed applies here. So for every 6 meals made of whole foods, 1 meal with a faux meat as the main protein is acceptable.
Personally this is just my preferences, everybody’s different, so do what works for you! I hope you guys like this article and gained some insight, appreciate you stopping by.
